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And the time to get involved is now, acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn during an education technology summit at The Pew Charitable Trusts. The FCC this summer began reworking E-Rate, which has helped provide some form of Internet access to 95 percent of the nation’s schools and libraries. The FCC also gave it a new name: ConnectED.

“I strongly encourage you to weigh in, for maximizing the participation in the E-Rate proceeding will maximize the benefit of our E-Rate investment,” Clyburn said.

The Obama administration wants ConnectEd to provide 99 percent of American students with Internet access in all classrooms through high-speed broadband and wireless within five years. The current $2.3 billion E-Rate program is funded through the Universal Service Fund. Businesses that participate in E-Rate have long complained about enforcing the program’s rules. But the program needs more money to meet the administration’s goal: Current demand from schools is much larger than what the program generates.

The rewrite aims to raise more cash and make the program more efficient. The administration has called on the FCC to fund the program by updating the E-Rate, which could include a temporary increase in fees on landline and mobile phones.

“What’s not clear is how to achieve these goals,” Clyburn said. “That’s what we are trying to answer with our proceeding and that is where we desperately need your help.”

Silicon Valley innovators, researchers, community and business leaders, including those who have never participated in E-Rate proceedings, can and should inform these decisions, she said.

Once all schools are connected with access to high-speed broadband, schools’ demands for technology will skyrocket, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said.

“If we bring all of our schools up to really high-speed broadband and we do it at scale, we’re going to send a signal to the marketplace for content creators, for device manufacturers. We are going to create opportunities for them to develop new tools and ideas and new content for schools across the country,” she said.

Jim Shelton, acting deputy secretary at the Education Department, said the business community seems willing to engage: It’s an opportunity to make money and serve the public.

“Nobody wants to be seen as the company holding the process back,” Shelton said.

Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said too few schools have adequate infrastructure, and the price of many devices deters schools from buying them. But widespread connectivity is likely to change schools’ outlook and give tech companies an opening to build more products for the education market. And as new computer-based tests associated with the Common Core academic standards come online, schools’ demands are guaranteed to grow.

It’s not just good business to contribute to E-Rate reform, it’s a matter of global economic competitiveness, Rosenworcel added.

“Knowledge, jobs and capital are going to flow to those places where we have better infrastructure in our schools and the world is not waiting for us,” she said. “If we pioneered connecting all of our schools, what we’re finding out now is that other nations are ahead of us.”

Connecting all schools to high-speed broadband will help cement the U.S. as a leader and global partner in education — setting an example for schools in other countries that are struggling to build out their education systems, Shelton said.

“Some country is going to lead in providing that support and service to them, in helping them figure out how to educate the masses of their populations,” he said. “It would be nice if it was us.”

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story misstated the plan for funding ConnectED. The administration has called on the FCC to fund the program, which could include a temporary increase in fees on landline and mobile phones.